Tagg your IT!

Tagg, our dog of 12 years, left this earthly life today at about 1pm. He wasn't doing very good last night and we thought we were going to have to put him down very soon. He did have a surge of energy last night and ate and drank lots of water (a sign that his kidney's were starting to shut down). He did fair through the night, but we could tell in his eyes that his time was short. Boomer was mowing the lawn and Tagg snuck out of the side gate and ran into the front yard (which was his favorite place to be). He ran up the yard to find Boomer and pretty much collapsed, not being able to get much air. It was only a few minutes and he was gone. Boomer thinks that he knew his time was short, and that he didn't want to be alone, so he ran into the front yard to be with Boom and to be where he loved to run, from tree to tree. He is definitely in a better place, and is definitely doing the things that he loves to do. We knew that Tagg would wait for Logan to leave on his mission because he wanted to spare Log the grief and saddness he would have had, had Logan been here. We have great memories of him and we loved him and know that he loved us too.
Tagg loved it when you would throw the ball for him to fetch it back. We taught him to sit while he waited for you to throw the ball. He would play for hours, or until you had had enough of throwing the ball. When we would mow the lawn, and he wanted to play ball, he would drop the ball right where you were going to mow so that you had to stop mowing and throw the ball.

He loved running in the front yard and would run to every tree, so he could leave his mark that this was his territory. Many times he would run away and would run the neighborhood. The first time we thought that he was gone for good, and 2 days later he returned, so very exhausted. The other 2 times, we found him at the pound. So $100 later every time he was at the pound, we would bring him home. This last time, I threatened him with his life that if he ran off again and got taken to the pound, that I would leave him there. He stayed pretty close to home after that.

Tagg loved the snow. He loved playing in it with the boys. They would throw snowballs for him to fetch, and the funny thing was that he could see them throw the ball, but was so confused when he couldn't find them to bring them back.

He enjoyed watching people and dogs through the gate. The neighbor dog would always come to the gate as it was going on a walk with its owner. It was a very small Shiz Tsu, and thought it was extremely tough when the gate was between them, Tagg got bored with it after a while and would go back to the back yard before the other dog was finished.

About a year ago, Tagg's brother Nick, came to live with us. We were nervous about them being in the same back yard. So, Nick was in the kennel and Tagg roamed the back yard. After about 2-3 weeks, I was in the back yard and had opened the gate to the kennel to pick some peaches that I couldn't reach. My arms were full of peaches and I had full intentions of coming back out and closing the gate. I forgot however, and when Boomer came home from work, he noticed that both dogs were in the back yard and were very happy and very content. From then on, they were in the back together, and I even think they liked it.

Boomer loved taking Tagg with he and the kids as they went Trick or Treating in the neighborhood. Last year Jordy even bought him his own costume....a hot dog!

Tagg loved to lay in the sun! We found him out in the yard alot, laying on his back enjoying the sun's warmth. He also loved to squirm on his back, like he was scratching an itch.

We love you Tagg and are grateful for all the memories that we have of you! Thanks for your patience with us as dog owners, and hopefully on the other side you will still want to spend your eternal life with us!